


In the Eye Of the Beholder: The Plot Thickens

by Kittycatkyla23



Series: Eye of the Beholder Snipits [4]
Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Gen, Monsters, POV First Person, Short One Shot, Sins, Transformation, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:40:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24520213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittycatkyla23/pseuds/Kittycatkyla23
Summary: 'He knows me, huh?' Izaya felt the prickles of paranoia creep up his spine.“Depends on who's asking.” Izaya said.“Ah, don't worry, I don't have ill-intent.” He raised his hands in surrender as he walked over. “My name's Lathor. I'm an old friends of Roppi's fatheir.”Izaya's eyes widened. So did mine. My father? He's an old friend of Anubis? Bullshit he is! That's the most blatant lie I ever heard.However, Izaya didn't know that. I never told him who my father was, after all. So to him, this must have been very intriguing to hear.
Series: Eye of the Beholder Snipits [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1459015





	In the Eye Of the Beholder: The Plot Thickens

**[Im at 00 street with your payment. Hurry U~~P~~!]**

I glowered at the message from Izaya. What does he have to be impatient about? Another suicide pact he'll be late to? Whatever. He's just annoying. But at least he has his good sides—which is even more annoying, not going to lie.

I walked around the corner of OO street. Immediately, I noticed a small crowd forming. That's weird. Did something happen? I walked over and tap the shoulder of the closest person to me.

“What's going on?” I ask.

The person, a girl that was very short, looked over at me. “There's apparently a wild fox in the alleyway.”

“It's not a fox!” A man close to us yelled. “It had wings! It's a huge bird!”

“An albatross?” I ask.

“No,” someone else said, “it has dark wings.”

I cocked a brow. We don't have very big birds with dark wings. Unless it's a sea eagle, but those don't get that big, do they?

“ _Dammit, dammit, dammit.”_

My eyes widened to a voice that didn't come from a mouth. I heard it in my ears but I was able to register that I didn't actually hear it. It was like hearing a voice in my head, but it tickled my ear canals. It was a confusing sensation.

“ _Hurry up, Roppi!”_

Eh? Me? Why me? Wait, where have I heard this voice before?

My eyes widened with realization.

“Excuse me.” I said and shimmied past her.

I slunk my way through the crowd, trying not to shoulder check anyone.

“'Scuse me, pardon. Let me through please.”

“Oi, stop shoving!” Someone yelled.

“What are you doing?!” Someone else yelled.

I tried not to get mad. “Just let me through please.”

Eventually, I made it through the asshole that was the crowd to the front. Someone was blocking the entrance to the alleyway, arms stretched wide and keeping the crowd back. He looked at me.

“We're waiting for animal control to arrive.” He said. “We don't know if the animal is dangerous.”

“ _Wait, when did they call animal control?!”_ The voice said, followed by a small yip. _“Shit, I need to get out of here. I can't wait for Roppi!”_

“Wait,” I said, loud enough for whoever to hear as well, “I think I know the animal.”

The man cocked a brow. “Huh?”

“Just let me pass for a second. If it's what I think it is, then it's what I've been looking for. My family owns an exotic pet shop and a few of our animals got out.”

The man cocked a brow in skepticism.

“ _Roppi-chan!”_

I glowered. “Just let me through already!”

I ducked under his arm and rushed forward.

“Hey!” He went to grab me but missed.

There was a crowd forming on the other side of the alley as well. On the right of me was a conjoined alley between two buildings. I walked over and looked into it.

On the floor was a pile of clothes. I knew immediately who they belonged to. It was Izaya's clothes! I knelt down to look at them. What the hell is this? Why are his clothes here?

“ _Roppi-chan...”_

I looked up to the voice. Out from behind a box stepped out a yellow birds talon on a leg of black podotheca, far too big to be a normal bird. A second talon walked out, along with the head of a fox. It's pelt was completely black except for it's chest, which was white, and eyes a deep brown—even it's nose was black. Around it's neck was a small jar on a string, filled with a wispy white gas-like substance. It stepped out more to show what I already knew. Those bird talons were connected to it's body. It's front legs were that of a bird. On it's shoulder was texture different than it's fur. It was obviously feathers—wings.

“ _Roppi-chan!”_

The fox stepped out from around the box quickly. This thing was much bigger than a normal fox but smaller than a medium-sized dog, maybe as big as one-year-old German Sheppard or Golden Retriever. It's tail was huge, much bigger than it's body, nearly disproportionate to it's form. I'd argue it was bigger than it's body.

It looked up at me with hope in its eyes.

“ _Roppi—ah, wait, he can't understand me! Roppi-chan! It's me! It's—”_

“Izaya?” I voiced.

The fox jolted and nodded vigorously. _“Yes, it's me! It's me!”_

The fox rushed over until it stood before me. It put its talons on my knees so his nose was in my face.

“ _Get me out of here before animal control shows up!”_

I patted his head. “Just so you know, I can understand you.”

He jolted. _“Really?!”_

I nodded. I wasn't that surprised. I could hear Celty's voice, despite her lack of a voice, so I wouldn't question why I could hear Izaya as a fox thing.

“What happened?” I asked.

“ _Get me out of here and I'll explain everything! Animal control is coming!”_

I chuckled nervously. “That's going to be easier said than done...”

I looked back at Izaya's clothes. Quickly, I packed everything into my bag except for his coat. I then wrap him up in the black fabric. His head, tail, and leg were the only things exposed. I then wrapped my arms around him and hugged him to my chest. He wasn't that heavy, but definitely heavier than a normal fox. But it wasn't something I couldn't handle.

“Keep your talons hidden.” I said. “Keep them against my chest.”

“ _Right.”_

He tucked his front legs against my chest, folding them down so they couldn't poke over my shoulder. I put my hand under Izaya's hind legs and held him close to me. I then stood and walked back the way I came.

The man looked at me with surprise.

“Yeah, I wasn't lying.” I glowered—although I was definitely lying.

“I uh, I didn't mean to—I mean, who wouldn't suspect someone was lying to see the pretty animal.”

“I get it. It's fine. But I need to take him home, so if you could...”

The man stepped aside. I stepped past him into the crowd. They gave me some space but not a lot—especially the girls who wanted to look closer at the fluffy animal.

“Wah! It's a fox!”

“Oh my god, he's so cute!”

“His tail's so fluffy!”

“What's his name?”

“He's pretty big for a fox!”

“Gaah, he's so big!”

“I've never seen a black fox before!”

I ignored all of them, holding Izaya tightly as I walked past them without a word.

“Can we take pictures?” Someone asked.

“Can I pet him?”

“No.” I said.

That earned me a glare. I didn't care. I walked past and managed to get out of the crowd.

Once away from the crowd, I walked down the street, crossed the way, and went into an alleyway. I pressed myself against a wall, knelt down so I could sit Izaya on my lap, and grabbed my phone. I dialed in Celty's number and put it to my ear. The device trilled then picked up.

“Hey, Celty, sorry for calling. But listen, I've a problem. A supernatural problem. Can I come over real quick?”

* * *

“Hey, Shinra's not here is he?” I asked.

“ _ **No.”**_ I heard her voice as the headless women waved her hand dismissively.

I nod and walked in. She closed the door behind me and pulled out her PDA.

 **[Whats with the fox?]** She showed the PDA to me. **[And why do you have Izaya's coat?]**

“It's really complicated. He's going to explain it to me.”

“ _ **Who's he? The fox?”**_ Celty was obviously confused. **_“Can he speak to animals too?”_**

“I don't think I can. I can't talk to my cat.”

I put Izaya down and took the coat off. The big fox shook out his pelt, then growled. I snickered. Most-likely he tussled his fur instinctively and he didn't like that.

Celty jolted. **_“How did you find an enfield?”_**

I looked at her as she quickly tried to typed. “An enfield?”

She jolted again. **_“Oh, right, you can hear me.”_**

I chuckled and smiled.

She pocketed her PDA. _**“Enfield's are a chimera-breed from Avalon. Head of a fox, body of a greyhound, tail of a wolf, and front legs of a eagle.”**_

“Oh!” I cocked a brow then looked at Izaya. “How did you get turned into an Avalonian?”

“ _Someone attacked me!”_ Izaya stomped his front talon.

“ _ **Turned into? What do you mean?”**_

I pointed. “That's Izaya.”

She jolted. _**“How?!”**_

“Yeah,” I looked at him. “How? Who attacked you?”

“ _I don't know who he was. He said he was looking for you.”_

I cocked a brow. “Me?”

He nodded, then puffed out his chest. _“He gave me this to give to you.”_

I didn't trust that very much. I took off my sunglasses and pocketed them. I then knelt to Izaya and took the necklace off. I lifted it up to the light. The stuff inside was partly see-through of wispy white.

Celty looked at it also. _**“Someone turned Izaya into an enfield then gave him a jar of influence?”**_

“Influence?”

“ _ **A persons life-force given physical form. They're years they have left to live.”**_

My eyes widened. “That's a thing?”

She 'nodded'. _**“Succubus and Incubus don't eat souls like people think, they just eat their life-force.”**_

“Oh, I didn't know that.”

“ _Yes, I'm sure whatever she's saying is very riveting.”_ Izaya growled. _“Is that the way I'm going to turn back into a human?”_

“I don't know.” I looked at Celty. “Will this help turn him human?”

“ _ **No way.”**_

“She said no.” I looked down at Izaya.

His lip pulled back into a snarl. _“Great.”_

“ _ **Not many breeds of monsters can steal Influence. And even then, I can't think of any that are able to turn man into monsters. What attacked him?”**_

“Yeah, what did attack you, Izaya?” I looked at him.

“ _I don't know who he was. He said he was looking for you and turned into a devil.”_

“A devil?”

“ _Yes, with horns, a tail, and hooves. His skin turned black instead of red though.”_

“Devils aren't real, Izaya. And demons can't do that. They can only possess a body.”

“ _I'm telling you what happened!”_

I didn't know how to take that. I had no clue what could possibly do something like this or look like that. Anubis had told me to be wary of demons, but they couldn't cross into the waking world without a vessel to possess. He said their amalgamated form doesn't crossover with them.

Celty knelt down by me. _**“Can you hear him talking?”**_

“Yeah, I can. I can only assume it's the same way I can hear you, although it's a little different.” I looked at her. “With you, I can hear your voice like a thought, but with him, I can physically hear it in my ears. It's super weird.”

“ _Can we focus here!”_ Izaya yelled. _“I would like to be turned back before Shinra comes home and tries to dissect me!”_

“I won't let him dissect you.” I looked at the fox. “If anything you're staying with me.”

“ _Oh, yes, I'm sure your cat would love that very much.”_

“Being a bitch isn't going to help you get turned back.”

“ _How do you expect me to act?! I have talons and a tail!”_ His lip pulled back in a snarl. _“I can't even use the bathroom properly like this!”_

Okay, I did feel bad about that one. Izaya's whole life has been rocked to a stalemate like this. We needed to turn him back.

I looked at the bottle in my hand.

“What do I do with this?” I looked at Celty.

“ ** _Influence contains peoples memories in it. So, whoever attacked Izaya wanted someone to see something.”_**

I looked down at Izaya. “Did the man say anything else when he attacked you?”

“ _He asked where you were. I didn't know where you were at the time, so he attacked me. He...ugh, he put this black stuff into my mouth and made me swallow it. Then I turned into this.”_

“Black stuff?” I tilted my head.

“ _I don't know what it was!”_

I glowered and let out a sigh. “Alright, alright. So, how do you use this?” I look back at Celty.

“ _ **Inhale it through your mouth. Sit down first.”**_

“...Alright.”

I stood and walked into the living room, where I sat down on the couch. Izaya hopped up to sit next to me, followed by Celty so sat down by Izaya. I took the cork off the top of the bottle and put the opening towards my mouth. I inhaled. The white wisp found it's way into my orifice. I inhaled harshly as a icy cold hit the back of my throat. In the next moment, my vision shifted.

I was in an alleyway. The alleyway I had picked Izaya up in. The informant as a human was standing against the wall with a smile on his face, tapping away on his phone. I leaned over to look at the phone.

**[Im at 00 street with your payment. Hurry U~~P~~!]**

Izaya pressed send and off it went. He then went onto google to play around on the internet while he waited. This is Izaya's memory? Why is the attacker having me see Izaya's memories? _How_ is he making me see Izaya's memory?

“Hello!”

A boisterous voice with a prominent accent that wasn't Japanese gained Izaya's attention. He looked up from his phone. Standing before him was an Japanese man with black hair, mismatched eyes—one was green and the other was brown—and a right ear that was split down the top to the ear canal. He wore a black collared v-neck that exposed a bit too much cleavage, dark jeans, and black boots. Who the hell is that? I've never seen him before. If he's looking for me, I assumed it was someone I had wronged in the past. But I had no clue who this man was, and I would definitely remember someone who had heterochromia.

Izaya smiled his usual smile as he tilted his head.

 _ **'Who are you?'**_ Izaya's thoughts echoed in my head.

“Hello.” He said. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah. You're Orihara Izaya, right?”

 _ **'He knows me, huh?'**_ Izaya felt the prickles of paranoia creep up his spine.

“Depends on who's asking.” Izaya said.

“Ah, don't worry, I don't have ill-intent.” He raised his hands in surrender as he walked over. “My name's Lathor. I'm an old friends of Roppi's fatheir.”

Izaya's eyes widened. So did mine. My father? He's an old friend of Anubis? Bullshit he is! That's the most blatant lie I ever heard.

However, Izaya didn't know that. I never told him who my father was, after all. So to him, this must have been very intriguing to hear.

“His father, huh?” Izaya asked.

“Yep!” The man beamed happily, but his smile wasn't very kind. “I, of course, can't say who hei is, but rest assured, I have Roppi's best inteirest at heirt.”

“Oh? Then what do you want from him?”

“To protect him. There's someone within...my orqanization lookinq for Roppi—or more so, lookinq for someone associated with Roppi. They'll use Roppi to qet to that person, so I came to collect him on his fatheir's behalf.”

Bullshit you did! Trying to pretend you know my dad! Like hell you know Anubis!

Izaya wasn't convinced either. Although he contemplated the idea that I was a yakuza child who had been separated from my father to protect me from that life, he just didn't believe that I would like my father despite his choice of career. He knew I didn't mess with yakuza unless I was given a reason to. He knew I wasn't a fan of yakuza, but wouldn't meddle with them too much. And he knew I actually liked my father. The notion that my father was in organized crime would contradict the little things I had told him.

Everything this man said was quite plausible. The only reason Izaya didn't believe it fully was because of the kinds things I had said about my father. His smile didn't show it, but I knew—probably thanks to this influence—Izaya wasn't buying this at all.

“Well, unfortunately, I don't know where Roppi-chan is.” Izaya said. “I haven't met him in quite a few days.”

“I'm sure you have his phone numbeir.”

“I don't. Roppi-chan is a very private person. He calls me through payphones and burner phones.”

“Has hei called you at all?”

“Not in a few days, no.”

The man's smile vanished as his brows furrowed. His expression laced with worry.

 _ **'Maybe he is worried about Roppi-chan.'**_ Izaya thought. **_'But I doubt he's actually a friend of the father. Roppi said he only met his father once, after all.'_**

“Look,” Lathor said, “I know you don't have any reason to believe me or trust me, but Roppi is in danqeir. We need to find him immediately.”

_**'Maybe he's a stalker of Roppi-chan's.'** _

Izaya nodded. “I will do my best. Give me your number and I will contact you when I find him.”

The man shook his head. “No, I don't have a phone. I probably won't be heire lonq enough to need one.”

 _ **'What does that mean?'**_ Izaya's thought matched mine.

Won't be staying long so he doesn't need a phone? What, so he plans to go home to where he came from? He doesn't use a phone where he comes from at all? That made no sense.

“Tust, find him, Orihara-san.” Lathor said, “Find him and convince him to stay with you. Take him to a hideout or somethinq that you own. I'm sheire you have safe houses. Hide him and make sheire no one can find him until I take care of that associate of his.”

Take care of?

“Take care of?” Izaya voiced. “So you intend to kill his friend? Is this an inside job betrayal?”

The man smiled. “Don't worry about it. Tust find Roppi and lock him away where no one can qet to him.”

With that, the man turned around and walked away. Izaya didn't stop him.

_**'Maybe that man actually knows Roppi-chan. He says his name so familiarly. If he was just a worker of his boss, he wouldn't speak about him so casually. No, I don't think he's part of the family organization. I think he's more of a stalker.'** _

Izaya pulled out his phone.

_**'An associate that he intends to take care of. He doesn't have a phone and apparently knows Roppi's father. He's obviously yakuza or in some kind of organized crime. With that strange accent, he might actually be a foreigner. What even was that accent anyway? Well, I doubt any is after Roppi for the sake of someone else. Roppi doesn't have anyone but Tsukishima and Tsuki's not hard to find so they wouldn't need to go through Roppi to get to him. Wait, then maybe I'm the associate.'** _

Izaya's eyes widened in realization. Uh-oh. Yeah, Izaya is about the only dangerous associate who people would adamantly want to get rid of. Him, Shizuo, and Celty were about the only ones I knew that would want to use me to get to them. Celty couldn't be killed however, and Shizuo wasn't hard to find. Izaya, on the other hand, is a hard man to get and an easy man to kill. And Yodojiri was still prominently in the picture. Does Yodojiri want to use me to get to Izaya?

_**'But wait, I can't be the associate. If I was, he would have killed me here, wouldn't he have?'** _

Izaya didn't know. And honestly, I didn't know the answer either. Paranoia began to creep at the informant. With little hesitation, he turned down the alley and clicked on his phone to my thread. He began typing a message. I rushed over so I could see what it was.

The message was addressed to me. **[Change of plans. We cant meet up. Someones looking for you. Ill tell you in person another tim—]**

“I knew it.”

Izaya jolted to a new voice behind him. This one also had an accent, the same accent we just heard but far thicker. Izaya quickly turned around, pocket knife at the ready. The man grabbed Izaya's wrist and squeezed hard. The raven called out in pain as the knife dropped from his hand. With his other hand the man pulled the phone from Izaya's hold and threw it on the ground, where he then stomped on it.

This man was not the same one that was just here. This man was of Caucasian decent, with black hair and icy blue eyes. He wore clothes like a pirate; a long black overcoat, knee high baggy boots, thick black pants, an eccentric waistcoat of red with golden designs, a white button-up underneath, and a black sash around his waist with the ends dangling off his hip. The only thing missing was the eye patch, sword, pistol, and giant hat.

Izaya was stunned for that brief moment at the mere sight of his strange attire. That quickly was thrown from his mind as the man tugged Izaya up. His hands grabbed Izaya's biceps and pushed him against the wall.

“Yeah, I knew it was suspicious.” The man let out a heavy sigh of disappointment. “Lathor doesn't care about anythinq but his obsession with that damn death qod and randomly, hei aqreid to toin when wei weire qoinq afteir the bastard's son? Fat chance. I knew hei had alteirnative motives.”

My eyes stretched wide. Wait, so did that Lathor guy _really_ knows my dad? He's obsessed with my dad? Who is Lathor? Who are these people who know I'm Anubis's son? Did Lathor really want to protect me? I have no fucking clue what's going on! Anubis never mentioned any organization or someone who was obsessed with him. Maybe Dad didn't know? I just didn't know anything.

Izaya glowered at the man, but didn't move. He registered what he said and wondered what he meant by 'death god', but he didn't have time to truly worry about it. He was pinned and he didn't know who this man was. Being patient may be his only way of getting out of this alive.

The man looked up at him with those blue eyes that narrowed in a glare.

“So, wei're qoinq to cut to the chase.” The stranger said. “Hacheimenroppei, where is hei?”

“I don't know,” Izaya stated, “I'll tell you what I told Lathor. He doesn't have a phone. We make a call through payphones and—”

A hand wrapped around his throat. Izaya's eyes widened as he grabbed the wrist.

“Where. Is hei?” His voice was laced with malice.

Izaya contemplated his options. Be honest and tell him I was on the way, or pretend to not know and hope the charades worked. He had no loyalty to me and our business partnership was only a temporary means anyway. Even the sex meant nothing to him. Izaya had no reason to protect me.

“I...” Izaya gasped, “don't know where...he is.”

The stranger's eyes narrowed more as his hand tightened on Izaya's throat. The informant gasped as he clawed and kicked.

Is he an idiot?! Why did he lie?! We have no loyalty to each other! He acknowledged that! Why did he lie to protect me?!

The man let out an exasperated sigh before he dropped Izaya. The informant fell to his knees, holding his throat and coughing.

“Well, now wei have a problem.” The man knelt down in front of Izaya. “Sei, I neid Hacheimenroppei. But if I kill you, Hacheimenroppei will run.”

 _ **'Yeah, I figured that.'**_ Izaya smiled.

I glower. Well, fuck you too. Here I thought he was being heroic, yet he was just going with the best option for himself. Shithead.

“But if I let you qo,” the man continued, “you'll warn Hacheimenroppei and hei'll run. And I can't let Lathor find him else hei'll probably hide him somewhere. So, I neid a damn qood reison for the mortal to stay within my reich. So, you and I are qoinq to have to do somethinq about that.”

“Well, I'm not sure how I could possibly help you.” Izaya lied. “I can't find him either.”

The man smiled. “Simple.”

His hand came around Izaya's jaw. He forced Izaya back and squeezed hard until his mouth was forced open.

“Agh! Argh!” Izaya pulled on his hand but it was no use.

The man's form shifted. His pale skin turned as black as obsidian. The whites of his eyes turned black as well, making those icy blue iris's stand out more. Four horns sprouted from his hairline, two in the back of his head and two on his forehead—they looked no different than a crown. His legs bent backwards within his pants, untucking the jeans from his boots so Izaya could see they turned into spindly thin limbs. I could only assume they were goat legs. And lastly, a tail sprouted from the small of his back. A thick and long fleshy tail that was covered in small spines. Izaya's eyes widened at the sight.

“Wei'll just have to make a statement.”

That sour expression vanished for a moment as a smile crossed his face. He then began chewing. I found that strange since there was nothing in his mouth a moment ago. He leaned in close and opened his mouth over Izaya's. Black-and-red liquid began seeping out and Izaya, who couldn't close his mouth, had to swallow that liquid.

Izaya closed his eyes tight shut. _**'EW! EW! STOP!'**_

I put a hand over my mouth and looked elsewhere. I was going to puke if I watched that.

The beastly man separated soon enough. He let Izaya go. The informant immediately tried to puke up what he had just swallowed, shoving three fingers down his own throat. However, what came up was his last meal, not whatever than man had forced into him. Izaya was baffled as he panted heavily.

He looked up at the man. “What did you—”

A jolt shot through Izaya's body, so agonizingly painful it stole his voice. He couldn't even scream, couldn't even breath. His body broke out in goosebumps before he began shaking.

_**'I have to get away from here.'** _

The raven forced himself to his feet and made a break for the end of the alley. However, his run was a stumbling jog at best. His legs suddenly snapped, making him fall to his stomach, and bent backwards. His pants became loose, as well as his shirt and shoes. He felt something force its way out of his pore, especially along his face. Every bone snapped all at once; every organ shifted all at once. His skin stretched and shrunk at the same time to accommodate the change without letting a single bone pierce the skin.

_**'It hurts! It hurts!'** _

Izaya was in total agony as tears sparked Izaya's russet eyes right before they closed tight shut. He finally found his voice and let out a scream of pain, which changed midway into a howl of a fox.

Izaya shrunk within his clothes. Before me was no longer a man, but that black fox I had come across early. He lied on the dirty ground, panting heavily and shaking uncontrollably.

The stranger who had caused this had watched without a word. His arms were crossed as he just stared down at Izaya with a cold gaze. Now that the transformation seemed complete, he walked over and knelt down. He grabbed Izaya by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up, which tugged him mostly out of his shirt. The man pulled out a bottle attached to a corded necklace from his pocket.

“Now, when you sei Hacheimenroppei, qive this to him. And let him know that you're tust the first. I'll turn eveireione hei eveir loved—past, present, and futeire—into a beist until hei comes to mei.”

Izaya couldn't answer. His head was still reeling from the agony he had just gone through. The man didn't say anything more as he leaned down. He stuck his tongue out, long and reptilian-like, and put it in the mouth of the fox. Ew! What the fuck?! Bestiality on top of all this?!

He touched the roof of Izaya's mouth and drew his tongue back fast. With it came a wispy white stream. Izaya gasped before his eyes stretched wide. His pupils shrunk to the size of a pin before glazing over. He stopped breathing; his mind went blank. He didn't know what was happening as it felt like his literal life was being stolen from him—which, according to Celty, it was. The man brought the end of the bottle up to his own mouth, redirecting the Influence into it.

The memory ended. I was thrown back into my reality. My eyes stretched wide and I inhaled harshly. I blinked numerous times. My eyes felt so dry. I bolted upright and looked at Izaya.

I glowered at him. “I can't tell if you were trying to be noble or cunning.”

He tilted his head in confusion. _“What?”_

I held up the bottle, which was now empty. “This was your memory of your attack.”

Izaya's eyes widened. _“Wait, so you saw—”_

“Everything, yes.”

Izaya's fur rose along his body as he stiffened. That was an odd reaction. Wait, is he embarrassed? If he was a human, would he be blushing? I couldn't help holding back a laugh at that.

He then prickled and glared. He stood as his lip pulled back in a snarl. _“You got me into this, you better find a way to turn me back!”_

“How would I know how to turn you back?” My smile still held before I cleared my throat to get serious. “I don't even know who or what that guy was. I don't know anything about what's going on.”

“ _They're after you for a reason!”_

“ _ **What are they talking about?”**_ Celty questioned to herself—probably forgetting I can hear her, but I'd address her later.

“Obviously, they want my eyes!” I glowered at him. “But that doesn't mean I know anything else!”

“ _It seems as if that Lathor guy was betraying whatever organization they have to try and help you.”_

“I mean, in theory. He could have just been lying.”

“ _I doubt it. After that other man's reaction, I don't think Lathor was lying. Now it's a race of who can find you first.”_

“Hm. But that Lathor guy said he was going to 'take care' of my associate. And you know, I don't have many people I keep close. Just you, Shizuo, Celty, and Tsuki.”

Celty jolted.

“ _He wouldn't need you to find Celty. She's not a hard person to find if he just watches the news. He could just sit on a roadway and come across her eventually.”_

“That's true. I don't think it's Celty.”

“ _Or Shizu-chan. He's also easy to find.”_

My eyes widened. “That only leaves Tsuki.”

“ _What would they want from him?”_

“I...I don't really know. Maybe it has something to do with his purity...”

“ _Purity?”_

I hesitated telling him this. I didn't fully trust him still, but he was now in this with me so it would be stupid to hold back information.

“Tsuki is a pure person. Usually, people start collecting sins at the ages of five or six. No one has a pure white aura—except for Tsuki.”

“ _There's no way he went through his whole doing nothing bad. Not even a little lie or stealing candy.”_

“I know he has. He's lied to me before, but nothing showed up on his aura. It's almost like he can't gain sins, or his sins are immediately forgiven? I'm not sure what's with him, but he just can't be corrupted.”

“ _Is there anything in existence that an exception to the rules?”_

“I don't know. I can't see the sins of animals, and monsters don't seem to have sins from Celty's aura. Or maybe I can't see monsters aura's. I just don't know.”

Celty waved to gain our attention. “ _ **The only things that I can think of that are an exception to sins are the angels, the reapers, and the horsemen.”**_

“The four horsemen of the apocalypse?”

“ _The horsemen are real? What do they have to do with this?”_

She 'nodded'.

I looked at Izaya. “Well, if Celty's real, then we can only assume the horsemen are real too. She says the only things are angels, reapers, and the horsemen.”

“ _ **The reapers were made by Death and Oberon so in that regard, they were never living to begin with. So, they can't sin.”**_

“ _I thought humans who committed suicide were turned into reapers.”_

“Is that true?” I looked at Celty.

“ _ **Of course, it's true. I am a reaper, you know.”**_

“No, what Izaya said.”

“ _ **What did Izaya say?”**_

“Wait, you can't understand him?”

“ _ **No, he's just yipping for me.”**_

“...Huh. Well, he said he heard that humans who committed suicide were turned into reapers.”

“ _ **Oh, no, that's not a thing. Reapers were created, not turned. There's only a set amount of us.”**_

I nodded and repeated what she said to Izaya, who also nodded.

“Can reapers breed?” I asked.

Celty hesitated. _**“I don't really know. Maybe the ones made by Oberon can, but we've never tried.”**_

“ _Maybe Tsuki was blessed by an angel then?”_

I looked at Izaya. “Why would an angel bless Tsuki?”

Izaya shrugged.

“Maybe we're looking at this wrong. I mean, why would they go after Tsuki? He's really nothing special.”

Before anyone could respond, the front door burst open. We all jumped and Celty summoned shadows. We all feared that maybe it was someone other than who we wanted to see. However, it was an ill-put fear as Shinra rushed into the room.

“Celty, Celty!” The unlicensed doctor called and paused when he saw me. “Oh, hi Roppi-kun! Have either of you been on the Dollar's site yet?!”

“No. Why?”

Celty waved her hand no.

“Look at this!”

Shinra rushed over and went to sit between us before he realized there was a fox there. He cocked a brow in confusion. Izaya quickly moved out of the way to sit on my lap. His wings pressed against my face so I leaned back out of them.

“You know, you're not really a lap dog.” I grumbled.

“ _Deal with it. I'm not sitting on the floor like an animal.”_ Izaya growled, his hackles raising.

“Yes, yes, stay calm.”

“What's with the winged fox?” Shinra asked.

“Tell you later. What did you want to show us?”

“Right!”

Shinra quickly turned on the laptop on the table. He signed in, went to the web browser and went to the Dollars site. There was a video posted. He immediately clicked it and turned the volume on full blast.

The video was of Heiwajima Shizuo and Tanaka Tom. Someone was talking to them, a man that I definitely recognized. It was the man who attacked Izaya, only in human form. His flesh was pale and his additional appendages were gone. Him and Shizuo were squaring off as there was obviously a heated discussion while Tom was holding his shoulder in an attempt to pull the blond back. They were on a desolate street looking to be towards the residential area of Ikebukuro. The person filming was standing behind a fence, half-hidden. He got closer so we could hear what they were saying.

“...On't help you find him, you bastard!” Shizuo yelled.

“I would suqqest you chanqe your mind. It would bei a shame to ruin your own life.”

Shizuo snapped. “Anyone who wants to ruin another person's life is the one who deserves to be ruined!”

Shizuo swung at the man while Tom took a hasty step back. I fully expected this monster in disguise to be sent flying. He overpowered Izaya easily, but Izaya wasn't unreasonably strong. Shizuo was a completely different scenario and definitely able to defend himself just fine.

However, he wasn't. Instead, he turned and wrapped his arms around Shizuo's. He twisted his body, pinned Shizuo's arm against his ribs, and lifted the limb up. Shizuo had to fall to his knees and slammed his face into the man's hip. The camera jolted—obviously the filmmaker was surprised to see the great Shizuo taken down so easily.

Both Shizuo's and Tom's eyes stretched wide in surprise.

The man let out a heavy sigh. “You humans are so temperiamental. Qess wei're tust makinq a statement with you too.”

The man turned around, wrapping Shizuo's own arm around his neck. The blond tried to push himself away, but the man didn't relent. His other hand came up to grab Shizuo's jaw.

“Hey!” Tom rushed forward.

The man's form shifted. His skin turned black, his legs bent back, horns sprouted along with a spiny tail. Said tail reached out and wrapped around Tom's throat. The dreadlock-haired man struggled before he was pulled down to kneel on the concrete.

“Let him go!” Shizuo yelled.

The blond pulled back so he could sit on his rump and swung his foot up. He slammed his heel full-forced into the man's stomach. Nothing happened. The man didn't even flinch.

The man started chewing. He leaned forward over Shizuo's and squeezed his jaw until the blond had to open his mouth. The stranger did as he had done to Izaya, puking black-and-red into his mouth. Shizuo's eyes widened as he struggled, coughing so the liquid got over his cheeks and the attacker's hand. His struggles bore no fruit as he was forced to swallow.

The man let him go. Shizuo turned away, coughing harshly still and spitting on the concrete. Nothing came up. A moment later, Shizuo stiffened and arched as he gasped loudly. His whole body began to jolt and contort.

“What did you do?!” Tom yelled, trying to pull the tail off his neck.

The man looked back at him. He then tugged him forward until they were face-to-face. Tom's eyes stretched wide.

“I simplei made him the monsteir that resonates with his peirsonalitei.” The man smiled. “And you're tust collateiral damaqe, but I think this'll qet the point across to Hacheimenroppei.”

Tom began to struggle harder, but it was fruitless. The man grabbed his jaw and forced his mouth open. Tom could do nothing as he deposited black-and-red into his body. Once done, the man released Tom entirely.

He then looked over at the filmmaker. The camera jolted before it attempted to turn and run. That spiked tail came into view of the camera before we could hear some choking. Whoever was filming was tugged back. The device was grabbed and pointed up at the tar-skintoned man. He looked at the device with slight confusion before turning it around to point to the concrete.

“This is a recordinq device, right?” he asked.

“Y-y-y-yes.” The filmmaker said.

“Hm.”

He pointed the camera back up at Shizuo, who seemed to have finished his transformation as he lied on the ground limp. His clothes were strewn about the ground and hanging off him in strips. His body had grown three times as big and became covered in golden fur. He had turned into a lion about twice the size of a normal lion with a silver main. The lower half of his face was the snout of a lion, but the top half seemed more human-like with a defined brow and eyes that were closer together than a normal lions. His ears were even on the side of his head instead of on top and were pointed instead of rounded. On his shoulders were a pair a black leather-like bat wings. Down the front of his legs, back, and hind legs was black flesh with pointed spikes all along them. His tail was that of a black scorpion.

A manticore. I knew that monster without needing to be told. Everyone had heard of the Persian chimera-sphinx monster before.

I couldn't see what Tom became as he disappeared inside his clothes. There was an extremely small lump in his shirt and jacket, looking to be the size of a house cat or something.

“I heird Hacheimenroppei is in this Dollars qanq. I'm sheire you'd bei able to send this videio to him, right?”

“Um, y-yes?”

“Qood. Now, Hacheimenroppei, I speik to you now. Theise two, along with your Izaya friend have all lost their humanitei. I am more than willinq to chanqe them back. In reteirn, come to mei. You have the peirfect eyes for what I am lookinq for. If you run, then I'll tust continue teirninq eveireione you've eveir cared about, aneione you've eveir met, into a beist. Meit mei in the warehouse district. Eveirei ow-eir, I have to wait is anotheir peirson I will teirn. Chop-chop. Does that sound qood enough?” His tone changed with the last sentence. I could tell he wasn't talking to me anymore, but probably the filmmaker.

“Y-yeah.” The filmmaker responded.

“Qood, now qo about sendinq that to this Dollar site.”

“Okay...”

The video ended.

Shit...Shit! What do I do now? How am I going to get out of this? Maybe I should just go with the flow like usual? But there's no guarantee he would let me live after I help him. There was no guarantee he would change my friends back. I didn't even know what he was! How could I possibly take his word for it?

For now, I had to get Tsuki! I've got to hide him before something terrible happens to him and I've only got an hour to do.

I stood. “Celty-san, go find Shizuo and Tom and bring them here! I need to grab Tsuki before that bastard finds him!”

Celty didn't hesitate. She leaped to her feet and grabbed her helmet. The two of us rushed to the door.

“Hey, wait!” Shinra called. “Is this Izaya?”

That made me stop in my tracks. Ah, shit!

“That guy said he turned Izaya!”

I looked back at the doctor. He looked far too excited as he looked at Izaya and Izaya looked very nervous. I _did not_ have time to deal with this right now!

“Izaya, come on!” I hissed.

The informant-turned-enfield leaped off the couch with little pause and ran up to me.

“Ah, wait! Is it safe for Izaya to go out like that?!” Shinra called.

I didn't care to respond to him. I had to get going now!

The three of us ran out of the apartment. Celty ran to her bike while Izaya and I ran to the stairs.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so these guy's accent isn't one that (as far as I know) actually exists but their accent comes from a long dead language--longer than latin. It kinda sounds Cajun, now that I think about it, but that wasn't my intention.  
> The basis for understanding the accent is:  
> J = T  
> G = Q  
> er/ur = air (as in their)  
> ee/y = ei (as in hey)  
> So sure becomes sheire (shair) and he becomes hei (hey). Here becomes heir (hair) and were becomes weire (where).  
> Peranor, as stated, has a thicker accent than Lathor, thus why Lathor was only using ei and air on words that went h-e. So here and he were altered but were and we weren't. Lathor's is easier to understand because he's more accustom to other languages. Peranor is blatantly using a translation spell so his accent is profoundly there.  
> I'm thinking of writing more. Maybe write the main checkpoints for the ending of this story, but I'm not sure if people would want to read it if/when I fleshed this out into a full concept story. But I want to write it. But I might be screwing myself in the future. I don't know what to do T0T Fek  
> Edit: OH FUCK!!!!!!!! I forgot a key part of Lathor's character!! His right ear is fucking torn! GODDAMMIT, what have I done!!!!!!! I need to go back in fix that!! To those who have already read it, it's not something worth going back for, but for me, it's a huge ordeal!!!!  
> KCK


End file.
